LR Drill Set 5, Question 1
Columnist: Voters are often disappointed even in those(58 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(6 more words not shown)
- Aseek candidates who(12 more words not shown)
- Blook beyond those(14 more words not shown)
- Cunderstand better the(17 more words not shown)
- Dchoose candidates who(16 more words not shown)
- Econsider which problems(18 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
Did the policy work? That's a different question from whether the politician kept a promise.
Imagine a candidate promising to spend more on schools. The candidate wins, increases the budget, and keeps the promise. But what if that money goes to administration without improving anything in the classroom? Voters can get exactly the action they were promised and still be disappointed by the result.
The same distinction matters when someone promises better health care. We might agree on wanting affordable, accessible care. That doesn't tell us which proposal will produce it. Saying what we want to accomplish is the easy part; explaining how the plan will accomplish it requires more work.
What we’re looking for
So the columnist's unfinished recommendation should tell voters to examine that connection. Don't stop at “Will this candidate do what they say?” Ask, “Will doing that actually fix the problem?” That is my prediction for the completion. We don't need a new complaint about dishonest candidates or a new rule about which issues voters should prioritize.
Working the answers
- A
Imagination can produce a creative solution, but it can also produce a creative idea that doesn't work. The columnist's examples aren't meant to establish that spending money is always the wrong approach. They show that a proposed action doesn't guarantee the desired result. Adding creativity leaves that question unanswered.
- B
A policy could aim at everyone's welfare and still fail to improve anyone's situation. The passage doesn't blame disappointment on voters caring only about themselves. It blames disappointment on the gap between carrying out a proposal and solving the problem. Changing whom voters want to help doesn't address that gap.
- CCorrect
Voters need to understand how the proposed solutions relate to the problems. Will this particular tax reduction increase prosperity? Will this particular school program improve education? Those are the questions the examples invite us to ask. C completes the argument by moving from attractive promises to a closer examination of whether the actions will achieve their goals.
- D
These politicians already keep their promises. That is what makes the opening interesting: even an honest candidate can disappoint voters by carrying out an ineffective policy. Choosing someone who sincerely intends to act won't ensure that the action works. D answers a concern about dishonesty that the columnist has deliberately set aside.
- E
Deciding which problem matters most doesn't establish how to solve it. You could care deeply about education and vote for the candidate who talks about it most passionately, yet still end up with a school policy that accomplishes little. Commitment to a goal isn't evidence that a proposed method will achieve it.
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